Finding the Usual Suspects: Allergy Immunology

Allergy immunology is the study of the biomedical aspects of allergies and what causes them, what types of things people are allergic to, and what cures there are for those allergies. Many people benefit from allergy immunology because many people suffer from allergies or allergy symptoms, so we have a lot to be thankful for in terms of scientific discoveries when we are able to take a pill that stops hay fever or when we take a shot that lets us enjoy milk again. All of those cures are courtesy of the study of allergy immunology.

There are a variety of tests that scientists do to discover what people are allergic to and then a variety more that they perform to discover how to create an immunotherapeutic system to help cure us. In short, scientists find out what causes allergies and then, sometimes, flood our immune systems with exactly the thing we are allergic to in order to drive our immune system into resistance mode which naturally fights the cause of the allergy symptoms. This, of course, is only one part of the science behind finding the cures for various allergies but it is a popular method.

Immunotherapy is designed for those allergy sufferers that are not reacting to conventional medical cures. If the natural medications for symptoms do not work, many people turn to immunotherapy instead. This is a type of therapy that actually moderates and fixes the cause and direction of the allergic reaction and fixes the allergy itself, not just the symptoms. Immunotherapy does not work in everyone, however, and it generally recommended as a "last resort" by most medical professionals because of the expense and complication.

Immunotherapy

Basically, immunotherapy requires taking injections for three to five years that may or may not result in long term benefits for the allergy sufferer. This therapy is only recommended for those that have no choice but to be near their allergens or for those that are experiencing "extreme" allergic reactions. This therapy is commonly used on people with asthma as well and those that suffer from hay fever allergies as the allergens in that type of allergy are hard to avoid.

Allergy immunology makes it possible for those types of allergies to be cured because of the way science has dedicated itself to finding a cure for common allergies. To date, there are many cures for allergies and many more on the way.

Causes of an Allergy in Your Child

It can be quite scary when your child first shows signs of having an allergy. It's difficult to figure out what the irritant is, especially if there is more than one. That is why it's important to have the allergy in your child diagnosed by a knowledgeable doctor, as then treatment can begin.

An allergy in your child can come from a variety of sources. The most common culprits are food, inhalants, and contact irritants. These three categories are known to cover a variety of symptoms and causes.

Food Allergies

Children and adult allergies follow different patterns. A food allergy in your child is most likely to come from milk, eggs and peanuts. Children will often outgrow these allergies, but in the meantime, children and adults are more likely to react to foods they eat the most often.

A food allergy in your child may be prevented by avoiding high-risk foods. Breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of life has also been shown to be effective in avoiding allergies. If supplementing is necessary, use a hypoallergenic formula. Experts also say to avoid giving dairy products to your child before he is 12 months old, eggs until he's 2 years old and nuts and fish until he is 3 years old.

Inhalant Allergies

Many things in an indoor environment can cause an allergy in your child. Cats, dogs and dust mites are common culprits, and the allergy to pets actually comes from a reaction to their dander. There are ways to minimize pet dander - brushing and bathing the animal and vacuuming regularly with a HEPA filter can help.

A dust mite allergy in your child can be reduced by covering pillows, mattresses and box springs in special slip covers. This will deprive the dust mites of the dead skins cells they need to survive. Reducing the amount of carpeting in the home can also give dust mites less places to live.

Contact Allergies

An allergy in your child can be caused by contact with insects or irritating substances to the skin. An allergy to a stinging insect can be alarming, and a child with this problem must be educated about his allergy at an early age. A person or child with a stinging insect allergy must carry epinephrine with him at all times. One sting can cause anaphylaxis shock, which can be life-threatening.

Certain substances can be the culprit behind a skin allergy in your child. Many fragrance chemicals are made up of volatile organic compounds, which can be respiratory irritants. Skins reactions to fragrances in laundry detergents can show up as hives, rashes, dermatitis and eczema. The most common causes of skin irritation, or allergic contact dermatitis, are caused by nickel, gold, thimersol, neomycin sulfate, formaldehyde and bacitracin.

There are several more causes of an allergy in your child, but food, inhalant and contact irritants are the most common. While the symptoms might be frightening, most childhood allergies can be managed with proper medical care.

You can always count on an allergy home remedy when in doubt

There are many symptoms that may look like an allergy. There is incessant sneezing, watery eyes, running eyes, skin eczema, diarrhea, shortness of breath, urticaria, etc. The symptoms will differ widely from person to person and from substance to substance. In most of the cases an allergy is evident. However, what allergy is actually affecting you is not easy to identify. Hence, it is always to know a good allergy home remedy to get fast relief with the least side effects.

What is an allergy?

Allergy is an illness that shows that your body disagrees with a certain substance be it from the air, food or environment. Allergy can also be psychological; in this case they are triggered by acute stress. Whichever way it starts, unless the allergen (the substance that causes it) is removed the symptoms that are caused by the allergy usually do not abate. In certain cases, certain chemicals and/or foods have been found to short circuit the on-setting of the symptoms.

Allergy home remedy - something you can rely upon anytime

It has been found that consumption of Vitamin B5 is particularly beneficial. This is actually pantothenic acid, and is extremely helpful even in acute cases. It however, takes 4-8 weeks to really control all the symptoms, so you will have to be patient.

There are many fruits and vegetables which can help as an allergy home remedy. Lime, for example, is an exceptional anti-allergenic substance. If you have an allergy that you cannot identify or treat, you can try having a glass of lime water with a spoon of honey. This helps in flushing out all toxins from the body as well as soothes any allergic symptoms.

You can also use banana especially for skin rashes and eczemas. Banana is an exceptional allergy home remedy for asthma as well. Before using this fruit, you should ensure that you are not allergic to the banana itself.

Another superb anti-allergen that is made out of vegetables is the mixture of carrot juice with cucumber and beet to make a composite juice which is highly beneficial for fighting any type of allergy if taken every morning.

These are just a few of the many potent medicines that you can get without any effort right from your kitchen. Herbal remedies are the best when you are in doubt of what type of allergy you are suffering from; they do not have any side effects like the chemical medicines.

Solving your allergy mystery with allergy testing

Different persons are allergic to different substances. Allergy testing is necessary to determine the substances to which a person is allergic. There are a number of methods of allergy testing. The methods generally used are the skin tests, elimination-type tests, and the radioallergosorbent tests (RAST).

There are several types of skin tests. In the scratch test, a tiny amount of suspected allergy-causing substances is placed on the skin. The skin is then scratched or pierced so that the allergen is introduced under the skin surface. The skin is then observed closely for signs of a reaction, usually in the form of swelling and redness of the site. Results are available within about 20 minutes, and several suspected allergens can be simultaneously tested by this method of allergy testing.

Falling into the category of skin tests, another method of allergy testing involves injection of a small amount of allergen under the surface of the skin and watching for a reaction at the site. Skin tests are suitable for respiratory allergies, a penicillin allergy, insect bite allergies, and food testing.

Elimination-type tests are useful for testing food allergies.

In this method of allergy testing, the suspected allergy-causing foods are eliminated from the diet for several weeks and then gradually re-introduced one at a time. At the same time, the person is continuously observed for signs of an allergic reaction. If a person is under the impression that he/she is allergic to a certain food, it is better to take a double-blind test to determine if this is true.

In a double-blind test, suspected foods and placebos (harmless substances) are provided in a disguised form and the person being tested and the provider are both unaware of whether the substance tested in that session is the placebo or the food substance. Only a third party knows the identity of the substances and identifies them with some sort of code. This test may need several sessions if more than one substance is under investigation.

The RAST is a laboratory test performed on blood. This method of allergy testing looks for the amount of specific IgE antibodies in the blood, which are present if there is a true allergic reaction.

Among other types of allergy testing are immunoglobulin measurements and the blood cell differential or absolute eosinophil count, in which rise in eosinophils can indicate allergy presence. Provocation or challenge allergy testing involves exposure to the suspected allergen under controlled circumstances. As it may provoke severe allergic reactions, it should only be performed by a doctor.

Before you are subjected to any type of allergy testing, the doctor will inquire about your illnesses, social and emotional conditions, work, entertainment, lifestyle, foods, and eating habits.

Knowing Your Milk Allergy Symptoms

Milk is made up of water, protein, carbohydrates (a milk sugar called lactose), minerals, fats and other substances. Milk allergies occur when our bodies react to the proteins in cow's milk, casein and whey, treating them as a foreign substance. Milk allergy symptoms may appear immediately or several hours after the intake of moderate to large amounts of cow's milk.

Mostly children suffer from milk allergies, but most of them get rid of it by the time they are six. Although whey proteins can be broken down by heat, casein proteins are heat-stable and that is why those who are allergic to the latter cannot tolerate any cow's milk, even when it is boiled.

The most common milk allergy symptoms are similar to those of other food allergies: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps, or symptoms involving the skin, such as urticaria, and eczema. Milk allergy symptoms include chronic runny nose, coughing, ear infections, excessive colic, excoriated buttocks, failure to thrive, fluid behind ears, irritability, nasal stuffiness, rash, hives and eczema, recurrent "colds," sinusitis, recurrent bronchitis, recurrent diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and wet and wheezy chest.

Three patterns of milk allergy symptoms have been recognized. In Type 1, milk allergy symptoms appear within minutes after the intake of small volumes of cow's milk. The reactions are visible mainly on the skin: eczema or urticaria, with or without respiratory or gastro-intestinal symptoms.

In Type 2, milk allergy symptoms start several hours after intake of modest volumes of cow's milk. The symptoms in such cases are usually vomiting and diarrhea.

In Type 3, milk allergy symptoms begin to appear after more than 20 hours, or even days after intake of large volumes of cow's milk. The principal symptom here is diarrhea, with or without respiratory or skin reactions.

These milk allergy symptoms are not restricted to those people experiencing a milk allergy.

One, who is familiar with food allergy symptoms, can notice that numerous foods share a variety of common symptoms, such as bloating, rash, and runny nose.

The diagnosis of milk allergy in infants may become easier if the milk energy symptoms started soon after the child began on milk formula. The diagnosis may also be easy if a person shows the same symptoms repeatedly after eating milk-containing food. In older children and adults, the diagnosis is often difficult because milk is usually consumed with other food. Only the milk allergy symptoms that develop after a few minutes are likely to give a positive blood or skin test, as these detect IgE that is involved in the immediate-type reaction.

Allergy Headache May Not Actually Be The Result of An Allergy

There are cases in which people get headaches without any apparent reason. During this time, people tend to blame allergies for this symptom. However, how much of this is true? Headaches are caused by a myriad of reasons, i.e. it could be poor eye sight, it could be sinus, it could be a tumor (in extreme cases) or it could be due to any infection in the nose, throat or ear areas. Lastly, it could be due to an allergy; however, allergy headaches are one of the least common afflictions.

What type of allergy cause the allergy headache?

Generally speaking, an allergy rarely causes headaches. The most common symptoms of allergies are runny eyes and nose, continuous sneezing, itchy skin, eczema and so on. Most commonly, headaches are the result of some allergy symptoms, rather than directly be the symptom of an allergy. For example, a runny nose and watery eyes will in the end give result to a headache. Continuous sneezing also may give into a headache, and so on.

Since most of the times the treatment of allergies actually cures the headaches, it is thought that the headache was actually an allergy headache. However this is not true. The allergies that can cause headaches could be triggered by food or by things we breathe in the air. In case you get a headache soon after consuming certain food, then you can easily identify this as a trigger.

Identify what triggers your allergy headache

You can identify what causes an allergy headache for you. For this you will have to monitor what you eat and how you feel after you consume such food items. There are certain foods that are more potent than others, such as chocolate, tomato, egg plant, pizza, etc.

You will also need to keep track of what pets are around you, such as cats, dogs, birds, etc. Is your headache worse when you are around your cat, or around a dog, or any other animal?

With the help of the chart that you work out this way over a few months you can easily identify the triggers of your allergy headache and can once you know it, you could go for herbal or chemical treatment. With a bit of luck you will be able to totally remove this problem from your life for good.

Scratching the Surface: The Story of Eye Allergy

Nearly 27 million Americans are reported to have some kind of eye allergy. Symptoms of eye allergy, if severe, can be extremely distressing requiring consultations with an allergist or ophthalmologist. If not treated in time, it can even threaten eyesight.

Eye allergy in most cases is linked to other allergic conditions, including hay fever or allergic rhinitis and a topic eczema or dermatitis. Those having personal or family history of allergy are more likely to have eye allergy, its symptoms mostly appearing before the age of 30. Its causes are identical with those of allergic asthma and hay fever. Medications and cosmetics are often major causes of the eye allergy.

To understand the eye allergy, a look at the outer anatomy of the eye is essential. The tissue lining (mucus membrane) that covers the white surface of the eyeball and the inner folds of the eyelids is called conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is rich in blood vessels and contains more mast cells than the lungs. Located in the upper and outer portions of the eye, the lachrymal (tear) glands produce the watery component of tears. The cornea is the transparent sheath in front of the lens of the eye.

Unlike the hairs in the nose (cilia), the conjunctiva has no filtering system and it gets directly exposed to the environment when we open our eyes. Influenced by allergens, the allergy antibody, IGE, coats numerous mast cells in the conjunctiva. When exposed to the allergen again, the mast cell tends to release histamine and other mediators. It causes eye allergy resulting in itching, burning, and runny eyes. Although both eyes are usually affected, sometimes only one eye is involved, especially when only one eye is rubbed with an allergen.

Eye allergy can be of various types.

The most common among them is allergic conjunctivitis, also known as "allergic rhino conjunctivitis." In this condition, which is usually seasonal, the inflammation of the conjunctiva enlarges its blood vessels leading to redness, itching, and tearing of the eyes.

"Atopic keratoconjunctivitis" is another kind of eye allergy that mostly affects adolescent boys, especially those who had atopic dermatitis in early childhood. Its symptoms are intensely itchy red areas on the eyelids, heavy discharge from the eyes, and scales and crusts on the skin of the eyelid.

Although not very common, vernal keratoconjunctivitis is another form of eye allergy that usually affects preadolescent boys. It appears mostly in rural areas during late spring, in which the eyes become extremely itchy, sensitive to light, and the lids feel uncomfortable and droopy.

Irritation from a foreign body, such as contact lenses result in another type of eye allergy called giant papillary conjunctivitis. In this condition, large bumps are formed on the conjunctiva under the upper eyelid.

Contact eye allergy is in essence contact dermatitis of the eyelids.

It is commonly found among women as a result of allergic reactions to preservatives in eye products and cosmetics. In this condition, the eyelids may develop blisters, itching, and redness.

Most people having an eye allergy treat themselves and do so quite effectively with OTC products. However, if the problem refuses to go away, it is better to seek medical advice because, if left unattended or treated poorly, some of these conditions may even threaten their eyesight.